Make no mistake — the Dolphins’ positional competitions are still an open season across the board. Except for the punter position that is — where Matt Haack is the last man standing, the Dolphins cut punter Stone Wilson earlier this week. And you can toss Xavien Howard and Laremy Tunsil into starter roles, as well.
You get the point.
Brian Flores declared their depth chart open for business ahead of camp — and we’re not starting to see some of the team’s preferences at these positions come to life.
This is most notable along the offensive line — where Tunsil continues to dominate at left tackle and new offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo’s efforts have centered around the same players with the first team. The Dolphins’ line in recent days breaks down much differently than even what we expected in the month of June:
Left tackle: Laremy Tunsil
Left guard: Rookie Michael Deiter
Center: Daniel Kilgore
Right guard: Rookie Shaq Calhoun
Right Tackle: Jesse Davis
The move of Davis to the right tackle position is a total wildcard — opening a new position on the interior. Career backup Chris Reed was supposed to wrestle away one of those inside spots — presumably from Deiter. But he’s struggled so much that he’s clearly falling off the pace relative to the physical power Calhoun can provide.
Is this a long-term combination of starters on the line for Miami? Of course not. Make no mistake — the Dolphins need more talent almost everywhere on the roster. But this combination seems to be where the coaching staff has eyes for the time being. They’ll have another week to try to establish some chemistry before their first big test comes: the Atlanta Falcons come to town next Thursday for Miami’s preseason debut.
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